VitaVac III History and....

[fantomfan57]

Hi all, I just got a III in the mail today. Although the seller did a mediocre job of packing (loose packing peanuts, loose wads of news paper, a couple of cardboard cartons and a large flimsy box. The box showed signs of handling.

Thanks goodness the vacuum seems intact. Shipped by Fedex. I thank the vacuum's construction for holding up to this packing.

At any rate, plugged in and sounds great. Came with a large supply of aftermarket bags, a package of Airway/Vita-Vac bags and the hose.

Missing are the wands, power nozzle and attachments.

Aesthetically, I am sorry it does not have that nice gel VITA VAC label on the body, but does have a white oval Vita-Vac by Vita-Mix label.

I may have extra wands and will try to add a Kenmore Power Nozzle.

Can anyone tell me more about this version? SN EL12083122
Is this an earlier or later version?

 

[fantomfan57]

AND....

Would anyone please email me a copy of the User's Manual. Can't seem to find one anywhere.

Thanks,
Garry

 

[pr-21]

Up in the right hand corner of your post, click on the black and yellow icon. It will take you to vintage manuals. You can look for the Air-Way Sanitizor Manual, which will be just the same as a Vita Vac. I believe it is 3.99 and you can pay through paypal etc. Original bags are getting harder to find. Look on ebay for those or for Air-Tec bags, either will fit, but again they are harder and harder to find. Air-Tec is now out of business as well......If all else fails for bags, look for Tom Gasko's post on how to use the top of the sanitainer with another paper bag insert......


PR-21
Bud

 

[vacuumlad1650]

Air-Way Replacement Bags

As per my good friend, Tom Gasko...
"Do not buy any non original Air-Way bags. They are much thinner, and will damage the motor. Go to your local Vacuum shop and purchase Simplicity or Riccar Freedom Cloth HEPA Bags. These might be labeled as bags for the Simplicity Freedom. Cut the bag directly below the collar, and insert it into the Vacuum where the bag should go. Now insert the plastic Air-Way Bag collar, and fold the rest of the bag material over the collar."
Of you need a Bag Collar, I have some. I do not have any more genuine bags.
Hope this helps!
Andy

 

[fantomfan57]

Thanks, Bud.

I found my way to the downloadable archive and downloaded the AW88, Lewyt 77 and Westinghouse Port-a-Vac manuals.

My new concern is, the vac smells like cigarettes.

Does airing the vac out in the sun work? Any other tips than that and wiping it completely down. I really don't like using Fabreze.

 

[fantomfan57]

The bags....

Along with 2 big packages of the white aftermarket (I think, because they do not say Vita-Vac) I received these.

I had been wanting one of these for a couple of years. I even have another full bag of the white aftermarket in my Misc. Vac Bag tub.

But I am concerned now because of the warnings.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

Garry


Email me, and i will help you get rid of the smell. You have to replace a certain part over the motor. Those bags will work, but are not as good as the Genuine or HEPA bags. They are made of Cellulose pulp paper.


Andy


[email protected]

 

[pr-21]

Garry,

Do an internet search on cut to size vacuum filters and you will find a few sites. You should see a white hepa type and a black charcoal. They are square and you could use the dimensions of your bag top to cut a pattern. Other than that you can look for Royal Type J bags and filters. The J bags kind of look like an air way bag. The hole may have to be cut or taped if too large. The royal after filters look too thick to use unless they could be sliced sideways...Just some thoughts. Using too thick of after filters could put strain on the motor.

PS I am by no means an expert here, I just happen to have an Air Way Centurion I bought from Tom Gasko and when they were being discontinued, I found Air-Tec and used their bags and filters, but they are now out of business also. Frequent Ebay searches can lead you to NOS bags and filters, but if you find them, snap them up if you are serious about using you Vita Vac....


Hope this helps,


PR-21
Bud

 

[tolivac]

I have a Vita-Vac that came from the vac shop trade in pile.They gave it to me-the machine didn't run.Found it had a bad cord.Salvaged a cord from a dead Compact-now its fine.I use the Air Tec bags.Good to know about the Freedom bag mods.So I will save some collars from used bags.These are simply AirWay machines as most on here already know.So sad AirWay went under along with AirTec.Nice vacuums-seems like folks want the cheap plastic dreck rather than a nice machine.

 

[fantomfan57]

Thanks.....

I am assuming the picture of the bags I posted are genuine as stated on the brown paper package. The filters inside are a darker green than the one sitting on the top.

Is there a way to tell if the white bags I have are Air-Tec (have an embossed "HCI" embossed on the plastic around the hole) or the lesser quality aftermarket?

 

[vacuumlad1650]

If the white bags are regular paper DO NOT USE THEM! Those brown bags in the paper package are Generic. Air-Way always "marked" their bags on the paper or the collar with their name. I had thought my package that style was genuine, until Tom told me the correct information. The bag on the left, and in the middle of my picture are Genuine. The one on the right is not.. If you zoom in on the middle bag, you will see the Air-Way name embossed.
Andy

 

[fantomfan57]

Thanks Andy..

Then the vintage package of bags, with Air-Way on the package and the identical paper are generic. Odd.

Then I guess I have a large quantity of "collars" to use with Hepa bag material.

 

[fantomfan57]

So my last questions are:

Does anyone have any information about the vacuum I just got. Older or Newer model?

AND

What about the Air-Way / Vita-Vac's makes them unable to use generic bags?

 

[pr-21]

You can use those generic bags, but they don't filter near as well.


PR-21
Bud

 

[vacuumlad1650]

The motors just can't handle the dust that leak through the "smooth paper" gneric one-ply bags. Those "wrinkled paper" generic bags will suffice.
Andy

 

[fantomfan57]

I am over it....

So I will buy the Simp. Free. Bags and use only the collars of these 1plys. Do you think Oreck Hepa cloth bags would work?

As for the smell, I will be dismantling the vac soon. Taking care to take pictures and treat everything delicately.

I have an AW88 on the way. Will repeat with it too. I have a Eureka design PN and wands for it.

I would prefer to use a Centrec (Panasonic) PN with the V-V, but I don't have that exact model. I do have maybe 4 newer PN models available.

 

[dysonman1]

Please post a picture of the handle end of your hose, and I'll let you which power nozzle to order to make your machine virtually 'original'. You'll note on the paper bag pack it says "genuine filter paper", which is not the same as Genuine Air-Way Sanitizor filter paper Sanitainers. These do not filter as well as genuine, and clog with dirt very fast.

 

[fantomfan57]

Thanks Tom...Pictures attached

Here are pictures of both hose ends (generic?) and dismantled unit itself.

Minor dust inside, which I removed. Motor looks fine. Both motor rubber gaskets were cleaned. I can see that dust did make it past the bags. Glad it was minor. No, I will not be using the bags I have, just the collars.

The other pictures are of the dismantled unit...all rusted areas will be sanded and painted. The hose and power cord reeked. I soaked the hose and fixed that, but the power cord still reeks. So, I will replace the cord. In addition I will be polishing the aluminum components to give them a better shine. I had to straighten the outer shell where the PN power socket is located and a minor dent on the bottom body cup.

Does anyone think I should "dress" the rubber motor gaskets? If so, what is the best product. Rubber does not like wax, it likes petroleum.

Thanks Community!

 

[kirbyvertibles]

This may be a stab in the dark but I had this same model and I'm wanting to say I found a date on it of 2001? Mine had the plain white Douglas made power nozzle with rug genie label on it. I sold the vacuum to another collector as I found myself never using it because I wasn't very pleased with that power nozzle. I bet a good old Eureka virbra groomer power nozzle would work with that.

When I serviced mine the black rubber motor seal said Hoover on it. A few years later I found that my 88 also had a rubber seal saying Hoover. Did Air-way out source the seals or was this a vac shop replacement?